ok I didn't do my last list Saturday. I did do it Sunday though. My nice neighbours woke me up twice within an hour and I only can sleep 7 hours if I am working a weekendday shift anyhow. My to do for today:
1. Find the papers for the bank. Sadly I didn't find them, so I ll just have to take what I do have and hope the bank will help me. (These people are an office from my main bank, so they can see all the info they need.)
2. Do the dishes. I did them earlier, tomorrow is another day.
3. Tidy up a little, going to start that now.

I am going to be so glad when the last house paper is signed.

Disclaimer: European at the keyboard, unless precised, amounts are in EUR, any mistakes made because of a difference in politics, regulations or background are accidental not on purpose, please forgive me for them.

Didn't get a list made for today, but I did get a bit done. Moved the strawberries to the big pot on the porch and planted raspberries in the former strawberry bed. I really hope they do better there than the strawberries did! Got my peas and pole beans in, too. The weather was so nice I couldn't stay inside. I'll probably have to tomorrow, it's supposed to rain a bit.

Tomorrow:

1. Go to the fabric store. I got a 70% off card in the mail on Saturday. Hoping to find some nice canvas for bags.
2. One load of laundry. Kitchen towels and washcloths need done.
3. I'll think of something. I'm currently drawing a blank.

The dog food is in progress. I got the message yesterday that kibble with tomato sauce is not going to cut it, so I have no choice. I'll probably need a nap afterward.

I also located my missing bead books, finally. We've been tearing the house apart for a month looking for them. They're at my mom's. She was going to make some earrings. It's been so long ago she borrowed them I can't even recall that happening, so I guess she really doesn't want to make anything very badly. At least we know they're safe and where they are now, but I wish she would have returned them when she saw she wasn't going to use them.

Dog food done and packed away and the pups got a bonus since there was extra but not enough to freeze by itself. So everyone is happy now. I also washed up all the large dishes I use for making these big batches, plus a whole bunch of plastic ware that doesn't go into the dishwasher, so the dish drainer and sinks are all full of stuff drying. Glad that's all done, too. I've gotten behind having no energy.

I made an extra batch of experimental rice we got on a close out. We've never had it before. It's sticky, and good, especially with the addition of soy sauce and a little dark sesame oil. Have to stay away from too much of that! Maybe I'll make fried rice with it and freeze it for Husby's lunches, if I'm up to it tomorrow.

Watched the cats playing out in their enclosed yard. Too many predators around to just let them run loose on their own. They were having a great time. It's a thing of beauty to watch Chester, our tiny tiger, running full tilt and jumping from boulder to boulder out there. I'm glad I figured out how to keep him inside the yard when he kept escaping. Now he's safe and he can play out there as much as he wants. He thinks he's a dog and has a hole the size of a watermelon dug up out there. We're not sure why, but it's keeping him busy.

Husby must feel better today because he walked some game trails on our property (just a short walk) looking for deer antlers for me to bead. No luck though, but the fresh air probably did him good. Although now he's laying down for a nap, so maybe not.

1. Go to the bank at 10 am. Oh no the appointment has to be rescheduled to 11 am.

2. Go to the grocery store and rush back to the bank at 11 am.

3. Wait 30 mins for the person the rescheduled appointment is with.

4. Have the papers arranged during a 1 hour meeting.

(These are mortgage papers, hence the time).

Today was not a very funny day, but it was effective and tomorrow can only be better.

To do list for tomorrow:

1. Get some extra needed sleep.

2. Make the cold plate I have been willing to make for 2 days.

3. Tidy up the living room and do the dishes.

4. Do some grocery shopping.

Disclaimer: European at the keyboard, unless precised, amounts are in EUR, any mistakes made because of a difference in politics, regulations or background are accidental not on purpose, please forgive me for them.

Ayanka, I refinanced my home about 3 years ago and I thought I would pull my hair out before everything got done, all the phone calls and paperwork.... But it's worth it.

SD, you are so talented! Can you show a picture of your cats' enclosed area? I would love to see it. We have woods behind our house, which our cats love, but we also have snakes, coyotes, foxes, deer, and raccoons. And this is a city neighborhood!

The cat yard happened by accident. One of our former doggies had canine glaucoma, and as her eyesight failed, we fenced off the rock pile for her safety so she didn't get confused and fall and get badly hurt. We never bothered to unfence it when she died because her sister was only two years younger so we thought it best to keep her from jumping from the top to the bottom like she used to when she could see better. At any rate, the cat yard was originally part of the dog yard. Our little tuxedo cat, Jack, refused to be kept in the house with the radio collar, but he didn't try to get out of the dog yard so he wasn't a problem for years. His favorite place outside is laying in the sun on the rocks, surveying his kingdom.

But after ten years of being kept in the house with his radio collar, Chester (orange tabby) refused to stay in anymore, and he consistently jumped the fence. So it was either quit using the dog doors which wasn't an option, or figure out how to keep the brat boy inside the fence. So I came up with these simple barriers made from PVC and some leftover construction fencing.

The barriers are attached to the fence with cable ties. Chester only climbs over the dog kennel panels, so that was all I had to add the barriers to. I think the ugly wire fencing is too floppy at the top because it has no support and it's not that tight, so I think he feels too insecure to try to climb out of the wire fence. Adding the barriers was quick, cheap, and easy. I had the stuff already and only needed to do 20 feet of fencing to keep him corralled, but even if I would have had to buy the materials, it wouldn't have been bad. The PVC was cut with a jig on my radial arm saw so I only had to measure once, and the fittings were just friction-fit. They're tight enough they hold together just fine, no need to glue them. Once the fencing, which is plastic and easily cut with ordinary scissors, is attached to the PVC, it holds the PVC brackets in place nicely. It really is an easy project.

Once we got Sota and he showed some minor cat-eating tendencies, we added some scraps of cattle panels at the bottom of the fence around the rock pile. The cats can get through those but the dogs can't, so they have escape hatches now in case they get caught out in the main dog yard. We don't believe Sota would actually hurt the kitties but if they run he'll chase them. It's more play than aggression. We haven't even seen the chasing for months, so I think he sees them as part of his pack now.

Our girl kitties, Cody and Fat Cady, won't go through the dog door. I don't get it, but that's how it is. Cody will go through a cat door into the screen room on the front of the house (Cady won't), so I made her a removable pet door panel from an old waterbed base frame I had laying around. The door is double so it's fairly air tight and it's in the patio door most of the year.

A stock 2x2 fits into a standard patio door track, so framing a pet door for a patio door is a pretty easy project, too. I just added some of that pink rigid foam insulation and some leftover quilt batting and put some spare upholstery fabric on the frame, front and back, to finish it off and make it warm enough for winter use. Pipe insulation goes on the pet door frame and the patio door is gently closed against it to kill any drafts, and then more pipe insulation fits over the other side of the patio door to stop drafts there. We can't feel drafts through the patio doors where our pet doors are if we hold our hands in front of them anywhere, so we don't think we're losing much heat. Cody is a shy cat and loves that she can go out in the screen room and rarely be bothered by the other cats. She doesn't want to go outside, but she seems to feel safe in the screen room, so she gets fresh air and some entertainment from the passing wildlife to make her little life less boring. It's worked out very well for us.

There are tons of ideas out there for outdoor cat runs. Some have access through a window. Here are some images. Pinterest probably would have lots of ideas, too. A lot of these are made professionally, but a lot of them would be easy to hack even with basic carpentry skills.outdoor cat run window access - Bing Images